See you at the assembly hall
Assembly halls were born along with the cultural and political ideals of the end of the 19th century, when the clubs and associations that became active needed places to meet and operate. An assembly hall could be the meeting place for the labour movement, the temperance society, the youth welfare society, the farmers' association, the volunteer fire brigade or any other society. These premises might today be called assembly halls. The assembly hall as a building
There are some features that are common to assembly halls everywhere. The forms taken by the activities of the societies defined the size of the building and the division of space within the building. An assembly hall was always large, often with two storeys and large windows to maximize the amount of light. The buildings were often made of wood with a log frame that was either cut flat or clad with timber. Brick buildings were rarer and usually only found in larger cities. The centre of the interior was a large hall with a stage at one end. In addition, the building had to have a kitchen, a buffet or restaurant, smoking room, a coat check and possibly some smaller meeting room or reading hall. The building would often also have a caretaker's apartment situated on the second floor. The buildings were often painted in red earth paint. The window frames and other details were painted with white oil paint. Current activity
Both Jämsä and Jämsänkoski used to have many more assembly halls, but many of them have gone quiet and shut their doors. Some of them have also been demolished, like the large assembly hall in Seppola. A lot of assembly halls were built in Finland, and at the beginning of the 21st century there were still 2,600 left; that is about six per municipality. More information Seurantalot.fi (Assembly hall site) Nuorisoseurantalot (Youth club houses) Suomen Kotiseutuliitto (Finnish home area association) Copy: Saija Silén Sources Aro, Jorma: Seurantalo - Mahdollisuuksien talo, kylän ja kunnan kulttuurikeskus. 1989. ARS Suomen taide. 1990. Keski-Suomen historia parts I - III Keski-Suomen museo: Rakennusinventointitiedot Patjas, Auli et al.: Jämsän rakennusperinnettä. Jyväskylä 1982. Päijät-Hämeen Seurantalot, Lahti 1989. Voutilainen, Heli-Maija: Keski-Suomi - maakuntako sekin on?. Jyväskylä 2000. |
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